REPORT: Zenon Konopka Dealt

Portland, Maine– The Portland Pirates and Anaheim Ducks have been busy this past week with the signing of Eric Weinrich and acquiring Joe Rullier. The most recent trade was announced on Friday.

The Anaheim Ducks the NHL affiliate of the Portland Pirates acquired right wing Joe Motzko and left wing Mark Hartigan from Columbus Blue Jackets in exchange for center Zenon Konopka and left wing Curtis Glencross.

“Zenon was the heartbeat of this team over the last year and is an immensely popular player wherever he plays because he wears his heart on his sleeve, he makes for a great prospect in the Columbus organization” Said Pirates’ Coach Kevin Dineen.

Hartigan, 29, (10/15/77), has played in 73 career NHL games, scoring 16-10=26 points. He appeared in six games this season with Columbus, scoring 1-2=3 points. A native of Fort St. John, British Columbia, Hartigan has also played in 34 games with the Syracuse Crunch (AHL) this season, scoring 19-13=32 points.

A 2002 Hobey Baker Finalist at St. Cloud State, Hartigan still owns the school record for career goals with 86. Following a three-year career at the university, he signed with Atlanta as a free agent on March 27, 2002. The 6-0, 196-pound forward played in 25 NHL games with Atlanta over two seasons before signing as a free agent with Columbus on July 16, 2003. He played in 33 games with Columbus in 2005-2006, scoring 9-3=12 points.

Motzko, 26 (3/14/80), has played in 11 career NHL games, scoring 1-0=1 point. This season, he has appeared in seven NHL games with Columbus (1-0=1) and 33 with Syracuse (13-23=36). Motzko led all Crunch players in scoring at the time of the trade.

A native of Bemidji, Minnesota, Motzko played four seasons at St. Cloud State (1999-2003). He was named Team MVP following the 2003 season and signed a free agent contract with Columbus on May 15, 2003. He made his NHL debut with the Blue Jackets in 2005-2006 and scored his first NHL goal on Jan. 16, 2007 at Chicago.

Glencross appeared in his first two NHL games this season, scoring a goal in his NHL debut Jan. 13 vs. Colorado. With Portland this season, Glencross had 6-10=16 points in 31 AHL games. He was signed as a free agent by Anaheim on March 25, 2004.

Konopka has appeared in 42 AHL games this season with Portland, scoring 11-24=35 points. He re-signed with Anaheim on Oct. 7, 2006. Konopka, 26 (1/2/81), split the 2005-06 season between Anaheim and Portland. With the Ducks, he played in 23 games, scoring 4-3=7 points. He originally signed as a free agent with Anaheim on Sept. 1, 2004.

“Hartigan will report directly to Anaheim, but we get Motzko whom I know very well from my time in Columbus. He is a very intelligent player with a tremendous amount of offensive upside to help us to be able to out the puck in the net,” said Kevin Dineen

It has also been reported that Konopka and Glencross have already made flight arrangements to Syracuse but it is not known when they will be arriving.